Another sunny one

Another sunny one, 14° (but seemed warmer) light E.

Usual procedure starts with a sea watch then loafing around the Obs for a while and then a walk about.

My totals for today but not in time order were: 16 Pomarine Skua, a Great White Egret, 7 Whimbrel, 16 Common Scoter, 10 Manx Shearwater, 5 Sandwich Tern, 14 Common/Arctic Tern, a Puffin, good numbers of Guillemot and Razorbill, 2 Lesser Whitethroat, 4 Common Whitethroat, 2 Blackcap, 4 Willow Warbler, a Whinchat, 10 Wheatear, 3 Yellow Wagtail, a White Wagtail, 4 Meadow Pipit, a Stonechat, 22 Swallow and 2 Swift.

Dragonflies: Large Red Damselfly and Broad-bodied Chaser.

Butterflies: same as yesterday.

The white line on the sea on the above photo is approx 1000 Gulls and the Gulls flying on the video below were spooked by a Pomarine Skua flying low and close to the cliffs. We saw the Gulls go up but did not know why until an observer came back and informed us what had happened. Pic and Vid courtesy Loren.

Bunk & Long Ditch

Sunshine after the rain, 5°, breezy WSW.

Bunk area: 22+ Pied Wagtail, 2 Meadow Pipit, Chiffchaff, Treecreeper,20+ Fieldfare, 8 Redwing, 2 Mistle Thrush, 4-500 Starling, a large flock of c500 Corvids, 150+ Black-headed Gull, 2 Herring Gull, very few Lesser Blackback Gull, a Coot, 2 Gadwall, 2 Pochard, 5 Tufted Duck and 2 Little Grebe, etc.

Long Ditch: Great White Egret over, Common Snipe, Kingfisher and Reed Bunting. And a Blackcap (m) in Alan’s Garden.

1st Snowdrops noted.  

AD & PC.

Gadwall (archive pic)

Egrets

A cloudy day with some light showers, 10°, light SSW.

Bunk with Alan: A Cattle Egret (3rd record) flew over heading NW.

Black-headed Gull, Lesser Blackback Gull, Herring Gull, Raven over, Shoveler over, Chiffchaff, Reed Bunting, Goldcrest, Lapwing, Meadow Pipit and 4 Mute Swan.

A call later in the day from TW alerted us to 2 Great Egret back on the flood near Winterbrook bridge. They then flew towards Bow bridge but were relocated back at the initial site by Alan later.

Looks as though all 3 Egret species will became a regular sight locally in the future as they have done in other parts of Oxfordshire.

Egret photos courtesy Alan

Egrets

Overcast, 13°, light S.

The day started with a Great White Egret found by Geoff Wyatt on the Thames flood by Nosworthy Way, Winterbrook bridge. When Michael Pocock arrived a little later it had been joined by a second. 3rd & 4th records for Cholsey.

Possibly a 3rd GWE seen on the flood in the horse field  near Caps lane later in the day. Per MA.

Bunk pretty quiet. Very few Thrushes with c20 Fieldfare and a handful of Redwing. 4 Yellowhammer, several Chiffchaff, 2 Mute Swan still on the flood and c50 Shoveler flying over and 2 Peregrine.

River: Water Rail, Little Egret, singing Mistle Thrush, Siskin and good numbers Of Fieldfare and Redwing. Per Alan.

A Ring-necked Parakeet over CSW yesterday and a Blackcap in song. Per Alan.

Mammals: Otter.

Butterflies: Red Admiral.

Great White Egret courtesy Michael Pocock

Great White Egret courtesy Alan Dawson ↕

Little Egret courtesy Alan

Shoveler ↕

Great White

Sunny at first then clouding up, 12°, light NW.

An early morning walk along the Bunk line today:

I had a Little Egret fly over but only seen briefly thru the tree tops. Approx. an hour later I saw another presumed Little Egret rise up over a hedgerow and head off north towards the Wallingford area. This one was in view a little longer and although fairly high and distant and flying away. I could either take some pics or look at it thru my binoculars. I chose the former and managed a few shots before it disappeared over the tree line. It wasn’t until I checked the pics on the computer, I realised it was a Great Egret. The second record for Cholsey.

The rest: c40 Canada Geese and 2 Egyptian Geese on a stubble field, nearby 2 Common Sandpiper and a Green Sandpiper, 1 Little Egret, 2+ Raven, 2 Jay, 3 Herring Gull, 7 Lesser Blackback Gull, 11 Yellow Wagtail, 1 Common Whitethroat, 6 Blackcap, 10+ Chiffchaff, 7 House Martin and 100+ Swallow.

Mammals: Brown Hare & Red Fox.

Butterflies: just the one Small White.

Weekend Bits

Sunny, 8°, light SSE.

3 Stonechat and 4 Stock Dove up at Cholsey meadows on Saturday morning along with a Cetti's Warbler and Kingfisher on the marsh. Per Michael Pocock.

Alan popped over to Dorchester gravel pits to see the Ferruginous Duck again and found 2 Great Egret there.

The first butterfly of the year in Cholsey Church yard, a Comma. Per Alan & Jane Dawson.

Great Egret (above) & Little Egret (below). note differences. Great Egret courtesy Alan.

Comma Butterfly courtesy Jane Dawson

Female Blackcap courtesy Alan

Great White Egret:

A first for Cholsey: A Great White Egret flew south over Church road at dusk on the 8th Aug. Per Richard Broughton.